Really NFR

[battersea boy]

Has anyone on here got any knowledge  or experience of keeping  African Grey Parrots?
Where to buy one,whats the cost,are they easy to keep?
 THanks in advance.

[cmg]

I'd only buy one if it had started off with Real Madrid.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Has anyone on here got any knowledge  or experience of keeping  African Grey Parrots?
Where to buy one,whats the cost,are they easy to keep?
 THanks in advance.

I have had 2 African Grey Parrots.
They are now a protected Species.
When I had them they were not.
The first one I had, I was in the Navy and brought this Parrot back from a Coco plantation off the Skeleton Coast, Namibia,
I called him Coco.
I think he must have been fairly old then because they live to a ripe old age.
I bought the other one up the Borough Market, when I say bought it the seller was daft enough to challenge me in an arm wrestling contest. If he won he took my horse & cart.
If I won I took his parrot.
It was his idea, and it was a huge error of judgement.
I took him home and called him
Butch, the Parrot that is.
He went through a faze when he was pulling his feathers out as some parrots can do.
He lived to a decent age. They are very good talkers, they pick up everything.
Best advice I can give you is do not teach them to swear, apart being a stupid thing to do in the first place, it reduces their value.
I would imagine they are very expensive now, but as I say they are a protected species so you probably wouldn't be able to purchase one legitimately.

[btffc]

I am fascinated to know the back story behind this post but I also don't want to know because the explanation is probably way less interesting than what I've imagined in my head.

[Dr Know]

Buy them on higher perches !

[Woolly Mammoth]

That will ruffle a few feathers.

[john dempsey]

Monty Python did a good documentary on it,
possibly on IPlayer now.

[alfie]

Has anyone on here got any knowledge  or experience of keeping  African Grey Parrots?
Where to buy one,whats the cost,are they easy to keep?
 THanks in advance.

I have had 2 African Grey Parrots.
They are now a protected Species.
When I had them they were not.
The first one I had, I was in the Navy and brought this Parrot back from a Coco plantation off the Skeleton Coast, Namibia,
I called him Coco.
I think he must have been fairly old then because they live to a ripe old age.
I bought the other one up the Borough Market, when I say bought it the seller was daft enough to challenge me in an arm wrestling contest. If he won he took my horse & cart.
If I won I took his parrot.
It was his idea, and it was a huge error of judgement.
I took him home and called him
Butch, the Parrot that is.
He went through a faze when he was pulling his feathers out as some parrots can do.
He lived to a decent age. They are very good talkers, they pick up everything.
Best advice I can give you is do not teach them to swear, apart being a stupid thing to do in the first place, it reduces their value.
I would imagine they are very expensive now, but as I say they are a protected species so you probably wouldn't be able to purchase one legitimately.

My wife had an Amazon Blue, he was great, loved his head stroked, but most of all he adored a boiled egg. I know it's a different bird but a good choice if you can get one.

[sunburywhite]

I had a Norweign Blue but sadly it died pininng for the fjords

I took it back to the chapo in the pet shop

[Aaron]

African Grey and Blue Fronted Amazon owner. Both rescues, both well trained. Empty nesters now, so these are essentially our children at this point.

I'm not going to talk about the positives, and there are plenty, because I think there's a risk that the excitement around them offsets the reality of what day-to-day parrot ownership actually looks like. Consequently, this is going to sound massively off-putting, but that's kind of the point.

A parrot is an outrageously large commitment if you're going to do it right. Someone once described them as toddlers with can-openers for faces — that's pretty much the reality of it, and they never grow up.

We've got a dedicated room in our house for them, plus perches/java trees all over the rest of the house too. We're also building an aviary at the moment. They're out 10-12 hours a day. Anything less than that and it starts to show in their behaviour, temperament and general wellbeing — plucking, stress bars on feathers, health problems, all sorts. Just getting a massive cage and a good seed mix won't cut it. You'll still have a bird that lives 15-20 years, but they're capable of living as long as we do.

Greys are dusty. We've got air filters in every room, bath the bird daily, vacuum constantly, and there's still dust everywhere. Something to consider carefully if anyone in the household has allergies or breathing difficulties. I recall reading something that seemed credible about the prevalence of respiratory conditions and shorter documented lifespans in grey owners as a result — no idea if it's true, but I could believe it.

Diet:
You'll need to make up fresh fruit and veg for them daily and supplement with a pelleted diet (Harrisons or Psittacus, I can recommend both). It's not cripplingly expensive, but it will show up on your grocery bill. You'll also have to get used to teaching them how to eat things they don't want to.

Holidays:
We've basically made our peace with the fact that holidays aren't something we do anymore. Even weekend trips take a lot of pre-planning — you need someone who genuinely knows what they're doing to look after them, or somewhere reputable to board them.

Household Dangers:
Non-stick pans, cleaning products, fragrances and avocados, among other things, are all potential sources of fatal accidents around the house. There's plenty of guidance online about what's okay and what's not.

Bonding:
Parrots tend to imprint on one person and can be genuinely, violently difficult towards anyone else. You could get "your bird" and have it decide it hates you but loves your other half — who might have zero interest in actually caring for it. Hormonal parrots, especially males, can be a nightmare to deal with.

Noise:
This is another one people underestimate. Greys aren't the screamers Amazons or cockatoos can be, but dawn and dusk flock calls, and general vocalising through the day, can still be a real problem if you've got neighbours or thin walls. Worth thinking about before you're the reason for a noise complaint. My grey has taken to making the most amount of noise possible whenever I'm on phone calls. The loudest, most obnoxious high-pitched screaming you can imagine. She does this because she gets a kick out of it.

Vet Care:
Worth researching before you commit, not after. Not every vet treats birds and you need a proper avian vet, and you should find out now what emergency out-of-hours care is going to cost you, because at some point you'll need it. There was exactly one Avian vet in Northern Ireland, who has now retired. I took the Amazon to the guy who is supposedly next best and he literally had no idea. If I want something as simple as blood samples done now, I need to do it myself.

Biting:
Worth being honest about too. It's not just "difficult towards other people" — a grey or Amazon bite can properly break skin, and hormonal periods make it worse and a lot less predictable, even from a bird that's normally solid with you.

Most parrots get rehomed multiple times over their life. Often for exactly the reasons above, people go in underestimating what's actually involved, and the bird pays for it. If you do get a rescue (and from an ethical perspective you really should) be prepared for it to speak in someone else's voice and say things you'd rather it didn't say whenever the mood strikes.

Wing clipping is genuinely contested within the parrot community, and it's worth reading up on both sides before you decide. It affects the bird's safety and quality of life either way. I don't clip mine, they're both flight trained.

Time out of the cage isn't enough on its own they need mental stimulation too, or you'll get the same plucking and behavioural problems mentioned above. Foraging toys, rotating enrichment, problem solving, all of it matters.

I'm in my mid-40s now, birds are in their early teens. There's a decent chance they'll outlast me, and you need to think seriously about what happens then too.

[Simunch]

Really detailed response Aaron.

You covered pretty much everything I can think of except one. Escape!
We looked after a cockatiel for extended family at times they wanted to travel and we let it out in a room to fly about.
We were fastidious about ensuring it didn't escape ensuring that windows and doors in the house were shut when the bird was out. Unfortunately the family who owed it were not so careful.

[iansthailand]

You can buy a Troy Parrot if you've got a few million!

[alfie]

You can buy a Troy Parrot if you've got a few million!

He don't come cheap cheap.

[iansthailand]

You can buy a Troy Parrot if you've got a few million!

He don't come cheap cheap.

Follow him on Twitter.

[alfie]

You can buy a Troy Parrot if you've got a few million!

He don't come cheap cheap.

Follow him on Twitter.

That's the way to do it.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Has anyone on here got any knowledge  or experience of keeping  African Grey Parrots?
Where to buy one,whats the cost,are they easy to keep?
 THanks in advance.

I have had 2 African Grey Parrots.
They are now a protected Species.
When I had them they were not.
The first one I had, I was in the Navy and brought this Parrot back from a Coco plantation off the Skeleton Coast, Namibia,
I called him Coco.
I think he must have been fairly old then because they live to a ripe old age.
I bought the other one up the Borough Market, when I say bought it the seller was daft enough to challenge me in an arm wrestling contest. If he won he took my horse & cart.
If I won I took his parrot.
It was his idea, and it was a huge error of judgement.
I took him home and called him
Butch, the Parrot that is.
He went through a faze when he was pulling his feathers out as some parrots can do.
He lived to a decent age. They are very good talkers, they pick up everything.
Best advice I can give you is do not teach them to swear, apart being a stupid thing to do in the first place, it reduces their value.
I would imagine they are very expensive now, but as I say they are a protected species so you probably wouldn't be able to purchase one legitimately.

My wife had an Amazon Blue, he was great, loved his head stroked, but most of all he adored a boiled egg. I know it's a different bird but a good choice if you can get one.

That's ironic because my wife, the lady next door, her sister, the woman at work I am having an affair with, and my
girlfriend, including the lady i met at an over 60s dance, the barmaid at my local, the Manageress in my local building society, and the Policewoman who stopped for doing 10 mile an hour in a 50 mph zone all enjoy stroking my head as I do.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Has anyone on here got any knowledge  or experience of keeping  African Grey Parrots?
Where to buy one,whats the cost,are they easy to keep?
 THanks in advance.

I have had 2 African Grey Parrots.
They are now a protected Species.
When I had them they were not.
The first one I had, I was in the Navy and brought this Parrot back from a Coco plantation off the Skeleton Coast, Namibia,
I called him Coco.
I think he must have been fairly old then because they live to a ripe old age.
I bought the other one up the Borough Market, when I say bought it the seller was daft enough to challenge me in an arm wrestling contest. If he won he took my horse & cart.
If I won I took his parrot.
It was his idea, and it was a huge error of judgement.
I took him home and called him
Butch, the Parrot that is.
He went through a faze when he was pulling his feathers out as some parrots can do.
He lived to a decent age. They are very good talkers, they pick up everything.
Best advice I can give you is do not teach them to swear, apart being a stupid thing to do in the first place, it reduces their value.
I would imagine they are very expensive now, but as I say they are a protected species so you probably wouldn't be able to purchase one legitimately.

My wife had an Amazon Blue, he was great, loved his head stroked, but most of all he adored a boiled egg. I know it's a different bird but a good choice if you can get one.

That's ironic because my wife, the lady next door, her sister, the woman at work I am having an affair with, and my girlfriend, including the lady i met at an over 60s dance, the barmaid at my local, the Manageress in my local building society, and the Policewoman who stopped me for doing 10 mile an hour in a 50 mph zone all enjoy stroking my head as I do.